Are there any disadvantages to using a variable population size in genetic algorithms?
Population size is a tricky issue even in pure biological models. Biological population sizes obviously vary. The two great protagonists of the argument were Ronald Fisher and Sewell Wright, with argument being between Fisher favouring few large populations against Wright’s many small interconnected populations. There is evidence that evolution occurs more rapidly in Wright’s model but the evidence is inconclusive. The theory concentrates on the probability that a mutation will occur and then become dominant in a population. In a small population a beneficial mutation is more likely to be selected for reproduction, but premature convergence is a serious danger.  While in a larger population a mutant is less likely to be removed from the population during reproduction. I would strongly recommend a read of Games of life by Karl Sigmund.